


Centuries of Nerve

by the_rck



Series: Apotheosis [2]
Category: Weiß Kreuz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Magic, Betrayal, Fictional Religion & Theology, Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, References to past Schuldig/Yohji noncon, Slavery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-04
Updated: 2017-11-04
Packaged: 2019-01-29 12:33:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12631155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_rck/pseuds/the_rck
Summary: Neither Schuldig nor Yohji mentioned that Schuldig knew that Yohji had cried in the shower, Yohji because he wanted to pretend that Schuldig didn't know and Schuldig because he wanted to let Yohji keep some dignity.'Don't break him.' Well, fuck you, Crawford. I can think of a dozen ways to finish the job without even trying.Notbreaking him is going to mean watching every damn moment to make sure nothing happens. No room for mistakes. Hell, hewantsto be broken. It'd be easier if nothing mattered.





	Centuries of Nerve

**Author's Note:**

> This picks up almost immediately after the end of "Snare," the previous story in the series.
> 
> There is a non-explicit incident of vomiting in this story.

Neither Schuldig nor Yohji mentioned that Schuldig knew that Yohji had cried in the shower, Yohji because he wanted to pretend that Schuldig didn't know and Schuldig because he wanted to let Yohji keep some dignity. _'Don't break him.' Well, fuck you, Crawford. I can think of a dozen ways to finish the job without even trying._ Not _breaking him is going to mean watching every damn moment to make sure nothing happens. No room for mistakes. Hell, he_ wants _to be broken. It'd be easier if nothing mattered._

Schuldig let Yohji shower first then waited for him to fall asleep before washing himself. He'd used the time while Yohji washed to order food for both of them and to lay out clean clothes for Yohji to put on. He knew that Yohji wouldn't eat, at least not until after he'd slept, but Crawford had shelled out for a room with a refrigerator, microwave and two double beds. _He can eat later. He’ll want to eat later. I’ll want to eat later._

Schuldig seriously considered drugging Yohji to keep him asleep so that Schuldig could get some uninterrupted sack time. _No. He's not going to kill me. He_ can't. _Crawford told him not to. And he's not going to walk without asking questions first. He knows he needs information._ He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to make it dry a little faster. _Plus, if he guesses I did it, he'll be that much closer to losing himself. Fuck._

He gave up on waiting for his hair to dry and lay down to sleep. _I can wash it again later, and these aren't my pillows. Who gives a fuck if they stain?_ He woke some time later to a hissing, sliding, metallic sound. He opened his eyes to see Yohji sitting on the edge of Schuldig's bed, pulling his wire a few inches out of his watch and then releasing it, over and over again.

Schuldig squinted at the digital clock. _Six hours. Shit. I thought he'd sleep longer._ He sat up, pushing his hair out of his face. "What the fuck do you want? Why the hell aren’t you still asleep?" He swung his feet to the floor and staggered to the toilet without waiting for an answer.

Schuldig took enough time to splash cold water on his face. It didn’t help much, but it was the best option until he could get food and caffeine. _And a cigarette. Damn, I want a smoke._

When he emerged, he found Yohji studying the coffee maker. Yohji looked up and said, "I've never used one of these, but I thought _gai--_ " He flinched and dropped the package of coffee he'd had in one hand.

Schuldig started to snarl then bit it back. "I'm not going to punish you for anything stupid, Kudoh, not unless Crawford tells me to, and he isn’t likely to." _//Especially not before I've had some caffeine. How the hell can you be awake right now?//_ He pushed past Yohji to the coffee maker, trying not to frown at the speed with which the other man fled. "This'll take about ten minutes." _And taste like shit._ "Don't talk to me until it's done. If you need something to do, eat something." He waved at the refrigerator. "If you don't like that, feel free to call room service. Crawford said we could." _And if I didn’t already know you’re valuable, that would tell me._

Yohji waited until Schuldig had finished with the coffee maker before going to the refrigerator. He reached in and pulled something out without even looking at it. He sat down on the edge of one of the beds and started eating.

Schuldig watched for a moment. _He's like a fucking robot. Hell._ "If you don't _want_ to eat, why the hell are you doing it?"

Yohji glared at him. He finished chewing the food in his mouth and swallowed. "Crawford said, 'Go with Schuldig. Do what he tells you to.'" _You figure it out, genius._

Schuldig growled. _I shouldn't have to do this on six hours and no caffeine._ He took a deep breath. "It was a _suggestion_. If you don't feel up to eating, don't. If you spew, it'll be fucking inconvenient." He looked at Yohji's thoughts. "If you want a cigarette, smoke one. Yours are in your coat, right where you left them." He rubbed his temples. "We'll share the ashtray."

Two cigarettes and three cups of heavily sugared coffee later, Schuldig finally felt ready to talk. "What do you want to know?"

"Why?" Yohji had started fidgeting with his watch again, pulling the wire out and letting it go.

Schuldig could feel the multitude of questions boiled down into that single word. They swirled in Yohji's head, jostling each other, each insisting that it was the most important. "I don't know, not entirely." He raised a hand to forestall protests. "It's not like he's going to tell me all the details of his plans. He's the puppetmaster. The rest of us are as bound as you are." He studied Yohji, trying to judge how he was taking that. Yohji's thoughts hadn't settled enough to give Schuldig any real information.

Yohji's lips twisted. "'Us?' Did you rape the others, too?"

Schuldig wanted desperately to touch Yohji, to hurt him, to make him scream again. His hands twitched as the bindings on him locked his muscles, telling him that he wasn't _allowed_ to do that. He took a deep breath. "We were bound as children. It's easier to get... consent-- or to force it. All of last night was about letting Crawford get past your--" He made a face. He didn’t like the idea of Yohji as powerful, but he couldn’t doubt it. "--power. I’m pretty sure it took longer than he thought it would." Schuldig shrugged. "Be glad it's Crawford. There are worse-- much worse-- masters." He tried not to remember, not to let those memories show in his expression and posture. _I have that much control over my mind. I do._

Yohji looked skeptical. "You can't be much older than me. How many masters can you have had?"

"You don't start out bound to a person." _Not unless you're lucky. Like Nagi._ Schuldig took a deep breath of relief as he realized that Yohji hadn’t noticed Schuldig’s reaction to his memories. "They train you. Then they bind you. Then they train you more and send you out with... temporary bindings and temporary masters. Mages need minions, you know." He lowered his voice to make it clear he was imparting a secret. "Even Crawford is bound. He has more... space than we do, more initiative." _And binding doesn't take on him, but you don't need to know that. Bad enough that I know that._

"Because he's the mage?" The question was sharp, as if speed might keep Schuldig talking.

Schuldig nodded. "Only mages can bind, and..." He cleared his throat then lit another cigarette. "He's older than he looks. I'm not sure by how much. Learning magic takes years, decades even, and he knows a lot. He's old enough that they let him pick his team." _Crawford’s as much their investment as you’re Crawford’s._ He just didn’t think that pointing that out to Yohji would improve the situation in the least.

Schuldig took a few moments to enjoy the cigarette. He was a little surprised that Yohji didn't say anything, so he looked deeper into Yohji's mind. The other man was trying to find some way to deny the truth of Schuldig's words, but Schuldig didn't think that would last long. _There's too much evidence for that._

Finally, Yohji said, "But why me?" The words sounded more puzzled than plaintive. "I can't see how I'm going to be useful."

 _Careful. There's a lot he doesn't need to know._ "Crawford wants information about your youngest teammate, information he can't get any other way."

"Yes, he said that." Yohji's frown said that he didn't really believe it.

"He didn't do it for shits and giggles." Schuldig shrugged. He supposed it didn't really matter if Yohji believed it. "Your teammate is... difficult to gather data on, and Crawford has to make a decision about him. His family-- You do know about his family?"

Yohji nodded.

Schuldig looked at what Yohji knew. _Nothing about Persia. Nothing about the old man. Should I tell him? Will it matter?_ "They're all powerful. Mystically powerful, that is. Crawford thinks they mostly don't know. Masafumi had figured part of it out. That's why he could create such... interesting monsters." _Carefully. The Japanese have different ideas about gods than what most Europeans believe, but he's still better off not knowing. He might be able to do something with the knowledge. I wonder if the boy could break bindings?_ "Crawford thinks most of the family needs to go. Kritiker and family infighting will take care of most of them, but there's your teammate's grandfather. He does know what's what, and he's had a long time to accumulate power. Getting rid of him will take a lot of planning."

"Why wouldn't he teach his children?" Yohji was genuinely puzzled.

Schuldig wasn't sure, so he offered his best guess. "So they can't challenge him. He probably intends to live forever." _And there's no reason he couldn't._ "There's the old man and his two sons. The sons hate each other. You-- Weiss-- work for the younger son." _//You can look up his name later. It's not important.//_ "Don't use names when talking about these people to me. Names can draw their attention. Masafumi and Hirofumi, being dead, are safe enough to talk about by name."

"That makes it hard to talk about them." Yohji's mind was turning over these new facts, trying to decide what they meant.

 _At least his brain’s working._ "Nevertheless. You're safe enough using Mamoru to talk about your youngest teammate. He doesn't think of himself as Mamoru, so the name doesn't connect. You need to be especially careful when talking about Mamoru because you're close to him. You automatically have more of his attention."

"And I'm to betray him." Horror and anger warred with each other in Yohji's mind.

Schuldig sighed and leaned back against the wall. _He’s not connecting ‘power’ with ‘god.’ That’s good. But he’ll figure out eventually. He’s smarter than Crawford thought._ "Not necessarily. Crawford wants one member of the family alive. He's narrowed it down to Mamoru and the older son's bastard daughter. You know her, by the way, she's the girl who invited Mamoru to that big party, the one where I grabbed him for Hirofumi. It's a good thing she never succeeded in introducing your teammate to her father." _Crawford didn’t want it to happen, so it didn’t._

Yohji shuddered. His lips twisted as he tried and failed to say the girl's name. At last, he gave up. He shook his head. "You can't-- Crawford can't-- have one of them without the other." He struggled for a moment, trying to say Omi's name just to see if he could. "Mamoru loves her, and she's definitely sweet on him. It'll kill them to find out they're brother and sister." He hesitated, obviously trying to decide whether to go on. 

Schuldig thought about reminding Yohji that he didn't have to speak for Schuldig to hear, but he thought it better for Yohji to realize that he had to share information about Omi. _Crawford gave the order. He doesn't have any choice._

"You've already done something Mamoru may not forgive." Yohji crushed out a cigarette that had burned almost to the butt. "Enslaving me, even if he never finds out how it happened--" He swallowed hard. 

"If you think you're going to spew, get your ass over to the toilet. I’m not cleaning that up." 

Yohji stood up and left the room. 

Schuldig did his best not to hear the other man vomit. To distract himself, he retrieved some food for himself. _It's not as good cold, but it's not bad. What the hell is taking him so long?_

After about ten minutes, Yohji returned. He said, "He's never going to forgive what you did, what Crawford ordered you to do. If she dies, Crawford better make damned sure none of you are involved." 

Schuldig could see Yohji considering what he knew so far and wondering if Crawford would sacrifice one of his minions for the purpose, if Crawford had people that the boy wouldn’t recognize as connected to him. _The girl looks better and better. But Crawford doesn't want her. He says she's too selfish. She's also what-- sixteen? Who knows what she'll be when she's older?_ He reached out mentally in an effort to reach Crawford because he thought this was something his needed to know right away. 

It took long enough for Schuldig to convey the details of the conversation to Crawford and to get a response that Yohji definitely noticed, but he didn't ask. 

"He cares that much?" Schuldig relayed Crawford’s question without editing. The idea of someone caring that much made him feel envious. 

"About her? Yes." There was no doubt at all in Yohji mind. 

"About you?" Schuldig was a little surprised not to sense an effort on Yohji’s part to use that to protect himself. _//He does believe that the boy cares about him,//_ he told Crawford privately. 

Crawford sent a pulse of comprehension and withdrew his attention. 

Yohji closed his eyes and nodded. "We're the only family he has." His shoulders sagged. He looked exhausted and defeated. "What do you want to know about him?" His mind told Schuldig how much he loathed himself for having to ask. 

_I suppose Crawford has more important things to do._ Schuldig gave himself a moment to wallow in his bitterness. "Tell me what you know about his childhood--" 


End file.
